The Workplace and Baseball (KJ Scribner)

Studying abroad in London has been the best decision I have made thus far in my seemingly short life. This choice was made clear, those many months ago, when I had learned of the Internship program here at FIE. I thought to myself, what a fabulous opportunity it would be to work for a company in Europe! Fast-forward through the tedious applications, essays, and classes, and here I am, two weeks into my Internship at HCA Healthcare. While these past two weeks have been nothing like I pictured them, I have learned a major lesson. When life throws you a curve ball, it’s how you handle the pitch that makes you a better and stronger person. My Internship placement has been a struggle thus far, and I admit that I didn’t handle the situation as well as I should have. I panicked with the thought of mindlessly sitting at a computer, matching numbers for eight hours of the day. In the heat of the moment, I emailed FIE to see what could be done. After being told it was the first day, and to give it a chance, I took a deep breath and carried on. Unfortunately, the next two days didn’t go any better than the first and I couldn’t survive another eight-hour day of verifying invoices. I met with FIE the following Monday to discuss my situation and we agreed that I would give it my all for another week and see how things moved forward. As you probably guessed, another three days and hundreds of verified invoices went by. So here I am, two weeks into this mindless internship, disappointed with how things have panned out. I’m scheduled to meet with FIE again this coming Monday, and I can only hope they have an alternative. While my internship hasn’t been perfect, this experience has taught me the proper way to handle a less than desirable pitch.

KJ Scribner is studying abroad in London, England, with the Foundation for International Education (FIE).